A working Apple-1 computer will go under the hammer at a Christie’s auction later this month, with an estimated value of between $300,000 and $500,000.
Not only is the Apple-1 motherboard one of relatively few working units still in existence in 2017, but it also includes some unusual modifications by its original owner — with the original 4K of RAM boosted up to a whopping total of 12K.
A rare functioning Apple-1 computer has sold for $112,000 at auction in Berlin — considerably less than the predicted $200,000-$334,000 auctioneers expected it to fetch.
Given that, in 2014, another Apple-1 computer sold at auction for an incredible $905,000, it’s proof positive that the spike in Apple-1 prices which followed Steve Jobs’ death is most likely over.
April 11, 1976: Apple releases its first computer, the Apple-1.
Designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak, the computers are sold wholesale by “Steven” Jobs. To finance their manufacturing, Wozniak sells his HP-65 calculator for $500, while Jobs sells his VW van. Years later, in 2014, a working Apple-1 will sell at auction for $905,000.
An ultra-rare Apple-1 prototype used by Steve Jobs as a demo unit is going on display at a Seattle computer museum. It’s the crown jewel of an impressive collection of vintage Apple gear that will be housed in a new wing opening Friday at Living Computers: Museum + Labs.
Lāth Carlson, the museum’s executive director, calls the Apple prototype “the most important computer in history” — and also “the most boring to look at.”
March 3, 1975: The Homebrew Computer Club, a hobbyist group that helps spark the personal computing revolution, holds it first meeting in Menlo Park, California.
A forum for computer geeks at a time when few others cared, regular attendee Steve Wozniak and his friend Steve Jobs will eventually show off the first Apple-1 unit at the club.
December 8, 1975: San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur Paul Terrell opens The Byte Shop, one of the world’s first computer stores and the first to sell an Apple computer.
Years before Apple would open its own retail stores, the Byte Shop stocks the first 50 Apple-1 computers built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
Online bids for an original Apple-1 computer, reportedly built by Steve Jobs, have passed $500,000.
The so-called “Celebration” Apple-1 comes with period correct power supply, original Apple-1 ACI cassette board, Apple-1 BASIC cassettes, original marketing material, and the most complete documentation set of the known Apple-1 boards. Only around 60 Apple-1 units are thought to still exist today.
An incredibly rare and unique Apple I computer is set to hit the auction block next week, and it could break the record for the most money ever paid for one of Jobs and Woz’s first computers.
CharityBuzz revealed today that it will auction off an original Apple 1, with 10 percent of the proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Because the circuit board on the item up for auction is rare even among the 60 or so surviving Apple 1 computers left in existence, it could pull in more than $1 million.
July 1, 1976: The Apple 1 goes on sale, becoming the first computer ever sold by the Apple Computer Company.
Arriving the same month Jimmy Carter was nominated for U.S. president, Family Feud debuted on TV, and the United States celebrated the 200th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, the Apple 1 is only produced in small numbers, and sells for the unusual price of $666.66.
On June 24, 2013, an Apple I — the first ever computer built by Apple Computer, Inc. — was listed for auction by international auction house Christie’s.
Thought to be one of the first 25 units to be built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the late 1970s, the unit featured no Apple logo, but rather a signature from Woz, who designed the machine. It sold for an impressive $390,000, ranking it among the most expensive computers ever sold.
